Three is not always a crowd
by CommanderHusky
Summary: A brief one-shot about how love can wreck people or save them. And of how what we're used to see as "normal" is not always the only right way to live a happy life.


**Three is not always a crowd**

Eric and Butters started to date in their junior year of high school. Eric had gone trough a really conflicting phase, even by his standards, especially during the last half of the last year and he hadn't improved at all by the beginning of this one either. That made his friends become distant from him. He practically lived in the principal's office and in detention.

The school counselor tried to help by putting Butters in charge of tutoring Eric, since the boy seemed to be failing school that year. If these fails were to continue he'd probably end up dropping out.

Eric was annoyed beyond belief about that, and at first, he just tried to continue with his mischief, dragging Butters with him very often. He hoped that the blond boy would get tired of him and just ask to stop tutoring him.

But Butters never gave up. After a while, Eric asked him why he was really doing that. Butters told him that even if the counselor hadn't appointed him to tutor Eric; he would have done it anyways. This was because he couldn't stand to see the chubby boy destroying his life, and he wanted to help Eric to overcome whatever was causing him to act like that.

Eric didn't say anything else about that issue for a couple of days after that conversation, but Butters noticed the bigger boy being more quiet and immersed in his thoughts.

Finally, one afternoon at Eric's house, while they were playing video games instead of studying, Eric told Butters that he wanted to talk.

He told the blond boy about how lonely he had been feeling through all of his life, and how he thought that he had never had any real friends. After Mr. Kitty died, he felt so sad and lonely that he needed someone beside him. That pushed him to come out and reveal the feelings he had for the person he'd been crushing on for so many years.

Unfortunately, that person rejected Eric, based on the many years that the chubby boy had been an awful person for. This sent Eric into a deep state of depression, which he expressed through even more anger and hatred than usual, even in him. Like he wanted to just punch life in the face for never letting him be happy.

But now, seeing that someone was really caring about him, Eric thought that there was still hope, even for him. He had decided to just open up to the blond boy, in a desperate attempt to find happiness.

Butters listened to Eric, feeling his heart heavy and at the verge of tears. When Eric had finished, Butters told him that he had noticed the bigger boy's loneliness, but that he had never found the way to talk to him about it, being that Eric was always pushing everyone away and never up to talk about his feelings.

The blond boy told Eric that he really wanted them to be friends, and that he would do his best so that the chubby boy would never feel alone again.

Being a very perceptive and clever guy, Eric noticed that there was something more in Butters' eyes than just friendship, so he bluntly asked him if he was feeling something else.

Butters, getting his face completely blushed, almost whispered that he had always had a crush on Eric. That surprised Eric, but also made him feel warm inside. Holding the hope of having a real friend was a wonderful feeling already, and now, knowing that someone _liked_ him was even better.

A smile lightened Eric's face, but it quickly faded when he saw his smaller companion looking away while tears fell from his eyes. The chubby boy put a hand on Butters shoulder, which made the other boy cringe a little at the contact, and asked him what was happening.

Butters just replied that he was feeling a little stupid for confessing his feelings to Eric, even after he had said that he had a crush on someone else. Eric sighed and told Butters that he had given up on having something with that person a long time ago, and that he was set on forgetting all about it.

They shared a moment of silence until Eric told his friend that he shouldn't be feeling like that, after all, nobody had said that and all hope was lost for him.

Butters felt his heart filling with joy like never before at the sight of his crush's smile, and after that, they spent the rest of the afternoon in a greater mood and with renewed hopes about the future.

Soon after that, the boys started to spend much more time together than what was required, both of them starting to really enjoy those moments together. Slowly, Eric began to look at Butters through different eyes, realizing that he found the smaller boy really cute and handsome. He had never told anyone, but he had known for a long time that he was gay.

Butters was just feeling better and better with each day he got to spend with Eric, and so, he was ecstatic when one day at Eric's house after watching a movie, the chubby boy told Butters, completely blushed and breathing heavily, that he wanted to kiss him.

That was the first kiss for both of them, and one of the happiest moments that would always be treasured in their hearts. From that day on, they started to date, and so, both boys who had needed so much affection throughout their lives, finally found the so long wanted happiness in each other.

All of this started to affect Eric's behavior, the time he spent next to the blond boy made his gentle and sweet side emerge, and all the hatred and anger that had plagued him for so long, seemed to go away forever.

This change was quickly noticed by everyone, some people were really surprised by that. His teachers welcomed this change and the improving grades and the effort of the chubby boy. But no one was more affected by that change than Kyle.

Even if he and the others had become distant from Eric, as soon as the bigger boy started to change, they all tried to include him once more.

At first, Eric was reluctant about that, not forgetting how much he had needed them before and how they all had turned their backs to him; specially Kyle. But he also knew that he had brought that on himself, so after a while, he started to hang out with them again. Needless to say, Butters joined them too as a regular on their meetings.

At first, Stan didn't take Eric being gay and in a relationship with Butters too well, although it was just out of the surprise from how sudden the news was. Both Kyle and Kenny knew about Eric's orientation from before, but they had kept that a secret; even from each other.

During the first summer and the first months of the next year, after Eric and Butters had became boyfriends, Kyle was greatly happy about his friends being together and even more about Eric's change. This change had ended all the fights and arguments between him and the chubby boy.

But as the year went by, and especially after a couple of shared assignments he had to do with Eric, Kyle started to feel something else. At first, he just thought that this new and gentle side of Eric was simply appealing to him, and it was true. But soon, he started to find himself lost in the bigger boy's laughter whenever he said something funny. Sometimes while being in class, he suddenly would realize that he had been staring at Eric like an idiot.

Those things made Kyle really nervous, because he didn't wanted to feel that way. After all, Eric and Butters seemed to be so happy together, and him feeling that way was like betraying their friendship...

But Kyle couldn't make himself to shake those feelings away. They only seemed to grow stronger everyday. Kyle started to dream about his chubby friend, and he would blush instantly whenever Eric talked or even just smiled at him.

A couple of months went by and then, Kyle was completely sure that he had developed a huge crush on Eric. Maybe it was because of the everyday fights ending that finally allowed the red haired boy to see how funny and interesting Eric actually could be. Not to mention handsome too. Kyle began to have trouble keeping his eyes from the chubby boy, especially when Eric smiled.

After Christmas break, Kyle started to feel sad around his friends. Seeing how sweet and nice Eric was with Butters made an icy pain take over his heart. There came a time when he couldn't stand to see the couple smiling happily at each other, and that made Kyle feel bad about himself, because he realized that he was in love with Eric because he got to see his best side. That sweet and gentle side of the chubby boy had only emerged thanks to the gentleness and love Butters gave him.

Kyle was torn between the envy and the need to have Eric beside him, and the desire to see the bigger boy happy. To make matters worse, he really liked Butters; he was a really good friend and had never done anything wrong to him.

But Kyle knew that he had wasted his chance long ago, when he had rejected Eric that day at Stark's Pond. He knew that on that day, he had broken something inside the chubby boy, but at the time he hadn't cared. Back then, Kyle only had eyes for Stan, and he had waited for his friend to reply to his feelings; but Stan never did that, and so now, Kyle was feeling that he had lost one half of his heart when Stan had told him that he only saw him as a friend. Whereas the other half of his heart, the one that Kyle thought was still his, he was losing it now. He could now see how he had ruined his chance of being in the chubby boy's arms.

Kyle started to sink into depression. First, he slowly drifted apart from his friends, getting together with them even less every time. He just spent the time after school holed up in his room, not even wanting to listen to music, which would usually cheer him up when he was feeling sad.

The other boys noticed Kyle's absence and his gloomy look whenever they managed to see him at school. They tried to talk to him, tried to understand what was making one of the most energetic and cheerful boys they had met become an almost mute shadow of his former self. But every time they asked, he would just give them a half-hearted smile and say that he was just tired.

Noticing Kyle's grim mood, Eric decided to take action and shake the truth out of the red haired boy if he had to. So one day, he met Kyle at his locker and told him that they needed to talk. Kyle objected, saying that he had to go back to his house to do some homework. Eric growled at him, saying that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Seeing a bit of the old Eric with that serious look, Kyle feared that he could trigger the bigger boy to lose control once more. Not wanting to spoil the hard efforts that Eric had been doing to be good, he accepted to take a walk with him and talk.

They left the school and walked in silence for a while, until they got to a little square close to the school. Seeing that it was a quiet place to talk, Eric asked Kyle what was happening.

Kyle started to reply with a rehearsed response that he hoped would be reassuring to the bigger boy. Eric of course could see through it and he interrupted Kyle, telling him that he wanted the truth, and that they wouldn't leave that place until he got exactly that.

Kyle remained in silence for a while, knowing that Eric was being serious about that but also knowing that the truth could make their friendship, Eric's relationship and so much more to go to hell. He considered testing how much he could endure in the cold air and not saying anything.

But Eric was really concerned about Kyle. He hated to see the boy he had loved for so long, transformed into that sad and quiet husk that roamed the school halls aimlessly from one class to the other. He insisted in wanting to know what was making Kyle so sad, and this time, he ditched the angry look and showed Kyle a really concerned one, that reflected the pain he was feeling from seeing his lifelong friend like that.

That look made Kyle's resolve to crumble, and hesitantly, he told Eric how he had been feeling throughout that year. He told the chubby boy how he had started to see him with different eyes, and how now, he knew that he was in love with him. He told him how sad he was now, knowing that he had lost his chance.

Eric listened to Kyle with surprise and a certain pain in his heart. The words he had been wanting to hear so much that night long ago, finally had been said. But now, instead of making his heart leap with joy, these words just made Eric feel empty and cold inside.

The boys remained silent for a long time, not knowing what to do with what had been said. Then, seeing the blank expression in Eric's face, Kyle started to get up from the bench they had been sitting on, saying that he better get back home.

But Eric grabbed his arm and told him to wait. He needed to know why this had happened this way, why Kyle had rejected him before. The red haired boy reluctantly told him about his long since ended crush on Stan, and how he didn't feel any attraction towards the old Eric, but that the new one, the sweet and gentle one, had stolen his heart.

Eric let go of Kyle's arm and the red haired boy walked away, not wanting to look back at the chubby boy. He was afraid that he might see him crying, not knowing that Eric was also crying back at the bench.

For an entire week, Eric and Kyle avoided each other. They were feeling that even a glimpse of the other could trigger a deep pain inside them. Eric talked about his conversation with Kyle to his boyfriend, finally letting him know that the one that had rejected him so long ago had been the red haired boy.

Butters had been a little concerned about all that at first, fearing that Eric might still have feelings for Kyle and that he could leave him to be with the green eyed boy. He liked Kyle, he considered him a friend, but Butters wasn't going to let him take away the boy he loved so much.

Eric assured Butters that, even if he had deeply loved Kyle before, he was now even more in love with him now, because he was the reason for his happiness.

After that, Butters felt compelled to at least talk with Kyle, because he didn't want to see him so sad.

One day, Butters gathered all his might and went to talk with Kyle. The red haired boy almost got away; pretending that he hadn't seen Butters, but the blond boy ran to him and grabbed his arm. Kyle was really surprised by that, being that Butters, even if he had become a little less shy since he had started dating Eric, was still the shyest of them all.

Kyle dreaded that and didn't wanted to speak to Butters, both because he couldn't stand to see the guy that was making his crush happy and because he felt like shit for loving his friend's boyfriend. Expecting a scene of jealousy, Kyle was surprised when he saw Butters with a concerned look and how he was telling him that he was worried about him. Knowing that Butters was aware about his feelings for Eric, Kyle agreed to talk and they went to Butters' house.

They sat at the blond boy's bed in silence for a while, until Butters finally broke the ice by telling Kyle that he knew about what had happened between him and Eric. The blond boy told Kyle that he wasn't angry, but just a little afraid of losing his boyfriend. But he also told Kyle that he wanted him to smile again, because he cared about him and didn't want him to be sad about what had happened.

Kyle couldn't help but to feel a little better at that, seeing how sweet Butters was being with him. Even if the blond boy was afraid of losing the love of his life, he was willing to cheer Kyle up. Trying to change the subject, not wanting to dwell anymore into the Eric matter, Kyle started up some small talk with Butters about unimportant things, but they soon found themselves talking about Eric. Since everything seemed to remind them of him anyway. Kyle could see how much Butters loved his boyfriend and the blond boy realized that Kyle's feelings were true and deep, it wasn't just a crush.

At the end, Kyle told Butters that he was willing to try to forget Eric, even if it seemed impossible to him at that moment. He didn't want to get in the middle of the couple and to cause more trouble than the ones he had already caused trouble for.

Butters told him that he was sorry about how things had turned out for all of them, and offered to help Kyle in any way he could. Kyle appreciated that but just said he needed some time alone, away from things that could make him think about what he had lost.

With that, Kyle went back to his home and for a whole month, he tried to regain control of his life, but avoiding talking with either Butters or Eric more than was necessary.

During that time, Kyle's mood greatly improved. He got back to hanging with the other guys and even began to make small jokes again, but his smile didn't come back, and a certain sadness was still rooted in his eyes.

Both Eric and Butters respected Kyle's decision of staying away from them, but they both wanted their friend back, specially Eric, who had found that he and Kyle had so much in common and he missed their long talks about music and movies.

One night, Eric and Butters were laying in Eric's bed, when Butters asked his boyfriend what his thoughts were regarding a threeway relationship. Eric looked surprised at Butters and took a moment to think about that. After that moment, he just replied that he had to try it to be sure. He asked back at Butters about the matter, and the blond boy answered that he also needed to try to be sure, that he thought that something like this could actually work.

Eric knew why his boyfriend had suddenly started to talk about that, and so he told Butters that he was happy with things as they were. That he was feeling great about having him as boyfriend and that he didn't needed anything else to be happy. Butters smiled for a while, but then said that even if he was feeling the same, he still wanted to try it. He said that it could be the answer to have everyone happy and that bringing Kyle into their lives would add even more love to their couple, and that couldn't be a bad thing.

They decided to think about it for a while, since neither of them wanted to lose the wonderful happiness they shared, and they knew that something like that could make things even greater, or it could ruin one of them for good...

Another week passed by and that Friday, while walking Butter's home after school, Eric said that they could at least try to share their couple with Kyle, and that if things worked, then maybe they could welcome him into it. But he said that the final decision was for Butters to make. The blond boy smiled and said that it was settled then.

Butters called Kyle and told him that he and Eric wanted to talk with him. They met at Eric's house, since his mother wasn't there that weekend.

After sharing a small talk for a while, Kyle finally asked what they wanted to talk about with him. Hesitantly at first, Eric told the red haired boy about what he and Butters had decided and asked him what he thought about it. Kyle was astounded by that proposition, but quickly said that he didn't want to ruin their relationship by getting in the middle of it.

Butters reassured him that it wasn't going to be that way. Eric obviously liked Kyle, they didn't had any doubt about that, and Butters confessed that he liked the red haired boy too. He found him really interesting and funny and certainly hot too.

They continued to talk about it some more, and Kyle started to get more comfortable with the idea. He was in love with Eric, but he recognized that he also found Butters quite appealing.

So the boys decided to give it a try, they would start just as friends with benefits, not wanting to force anyone to feel something they didn't feel, they would just enjoy each other and if some feelings appeared from that, they would be more than welcomed.

Eric and Butters asked Kyle if he wanted to spend the night with them, without pressures, they didn't have to do anything yet, they just wanted to go step by step with this.

Kyle accepted and after a nice dinner, they watched a movie together. The three boys were sitting on the couch, Eric in the middle with Butters on his right side and Kyle on his left. Eric had his arm around Butters from the start, but then he saw that Kyle was looking a little nervous and was a little distant from him, like he didn't dare to touch Eric. The chubby boy took a deep breath and wrapped his arm around Kyle's shoulder, pulling the smaller boy closer to him. Kyle was blushing hard, but smiled at Eric when he saw the bigger boy smiling at him. Then he lowered his sight a little and saw Butters also smiling.

With that, the three boys felt more relaxed, finally having broken the ice of this new thing that was starting for all of them.

After the movie, they went to Eric's room to get some sleep. Luckily the chubby boy had gotten a nice and very big bed when he started to date Butters, and now the three of them could fit in comfortably. They stripped to their shirts and boxers with blushed faces and a little embarrassment, but then Eric just laughed and got the other two into a big and warm hug. A hug that made them forget about the awkwardness and embrace the great feeling they were all getting from being together.

Getting into the bed, Butters suggested that since it was their first night together, Kyle should sleep in the middle, so he wouldn't feel like he had been left out. Kyle greatly appreciated that gesture and got into bed next to the blond boy. Eric smiled as he turned off the lights and got into bed next to Kyle. It was the first night he would sleep with Butters not holding him through all of it, and that made him feel a little odd. Besides, he was a little nervous about sleeping next to Kyle, something that he had dreamed millions of times until he started to fall in love with Butters. But he really wanted this to work.

He turned to face Kyle and at the same time as Butters, asked Kyle if he wanted them to hug him while sleeping. Kyle was amused by the synchronized question and chuckled, replying that he would love that. Eric and Butters chuckled too and both of them put an arm over Kyle, holding their hands on top of the red haired boy's chest.

The next morning, the boys woke up almost at the same time. They spent a while just laying in bed, caressing each other and talking about how great it felt to be all together. With a huge smile, Eric decided to prepare a nice breakfast for them to eat in bed, and so, Kyle and Butters remained laying and talking for a while.

Kyle had loved to sleep next to Eric, he had been wanting that for a long time now, and doing it felt great for him. But he realized that he had also loved to sleep next to Butters, as they talked, he could feel his attraction towards the blond boy grow bigger with every word of the sweet and innocent voice of Butters.

The blond boy was also feeling great by having Kyle next to him, he had thought he would miss Eric's warmth on his back, since he had grown used to that wonderful feeling. But even if he did had missed it, he still felt great by hugging Kyle throughout the night. And now, as they were talking, he realized that he felt really attracted to the red haired boy.

Not long after, Eric came back with breakfast and they all enjoyed it while talking about everything. Eric was feeling so happy about them spending that time together, and when Kyle left, he felt that Butters had been right about bringing Kyle into their relationship.

From that moment on, the three boys started to hang out together a lot, sometimes going on their own without Stan or Kenny. They went on long walks around the town, just talking and laughing.

A month after that first night, they were sitting in Eric's bed, he had his back to the wall, Butters was leaning on him and Kyle was resting his head on the bigger boy's lap. In a moment of silence after they had laughed a lot from one of Eric's jokes, Kyle looked at his friends while blushing hard. Kyle stated that he wanted to kiss them.

Both Eric and Butters smiled at each other and then to Kyle, the red haired boy raised himself a little and got closer to Eric, who leaned forwards and slowly closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against Kyle's, locking them in a gentle and deep kiss. They parted the kiss after a while and smiled to each other, then, Kyle turned to smile at Butters and leaned towards him. The blond boy was nervous but also really wanting this, so he got closer to Kyle and their lips fused in a tender and moist kiss.

After a moment, they separated again and Kyle sighed with a huge smile on his face. He told them that he had been wanting to do that for a while, and that it had been his first kisses too.

Eric and Butters were surprised by that, but they felt happy that they had finally done it. After another silence, Eric, with a smirk on his lips, asked Kyle if he wanted to do it again. To which Kyle replied by getting closer again and kissing him once more, this time more passionately. Then, still embracing Eric, Kyle turned to Butters and wrapped his arm around the blond boy; he pulled him closer and kissed him with tenderness and passion. They all soon were locked into a very heated but also loving making out session that lasted for a long time and left them breathless but with their hearts throbbing and full of joy.

As the time passed, the three boys' relationship was growing stronger; they were almost inseparable now and did a lot together. They hadn't told their friends about it, thinking that it was better to wait a little longer to come out with that.

During a very warm spring night, they were at Eric's house, lying on his bed talking. They had little clothes on since the air was really hot. As Butters was talking about something that had happened at school, Kyle was looking at his friends and thought that they were really the most beautiful guys he had ever seen. Feeling really hot, he got closer to them and they started to kiss each other.

Then, breathing heavily, he said that he wanted to make love with them. Again, Butters and Eric smiled. Soon they were all making out and caressing each other while removing the little clothes they still had on.

Since it was Kyle's first time, both Eric and Butters wanted it to be special, so they decided to make the red haired boy to feel as much pleasure, but also as much comfort and safeness as they could. Both Eric and Butters had lost their virginity together almost a year before, and now, they knew pretty well a lot of ways to make Kyle enjoy the experience a lot. They made love to each other many times, in many different ways and throughout all of that night. After the last time, they were laying on the bed, exhausted but more than happy, and fell asleep as the sun was rising.

After that, the boys added lovemaking as one of their favorite activities to do together. They were all feeling great about how the relationship was developing and they felt closer and closer with every day.

Near the end of their last high school year, after a long but very nice walk along Stark's Pond, the boys were at Butters house and at one moment, Kyle said that he needed to talk with them.

Both Eric and Butters felt a little concerned at the serious tone of their friend's voice. After a couple of seconds, Kyle took a deep breath and with a shy smile, he told them that he loved them. Both of them. He had been loving Eric for a long time already, and his love had became even deeper. But He realized that he had fallen in love with Butters as well. Those months together made him see how funny, sweet, smart and interesting Butters was, and that had made him to want to give him his heart too.

Butters, with tears in his eyes, got closer to Kyle and hugged him tightly, saying that he had been feeling the same about him since they had started to hang out together. Eric joined in their embrace and the three of them just stood there for a while, basking in the love that was filling the air and their hearts. They made love again that night, but instead of the raw lust they had experienced before; they were loving each other as if they were all one.

The next morning, they talked about what had happened and decided that they were now together, not just as friends anymore, but as lovers.

After that, they told their friends about it and were relieved to find that their friends were more than okay with that.

The boys finished high school and went on a trip together to LA that summer. After that, Kyle applied to medical school to become a surgeon, Butters wanted to study history and maybe become an archaeologist, and Eric got into MIT to study robotics. They arranged everything so that their universities were really close so they could live together in a nice little apartment that they bought pooling some money they had been saving and a little help from their parents. Even Butters' parents, that hadn't been thrilled about his son being in a relationship not with one, but two men. But in the end, they understood that their son was really happy being with Eric and Kyle.

Butters graduated first, since his career was a year shorter, and got a really nice job as an assistant at the Boston Natural History Museum. After graduating, Eric, along with a couple of friends from his class, started a little automation business that quickly sparked the interests of some big corporations, thanks to Eric's genius management skills. Kyle got a job as an ER surgeon at a pediatric hospital in Boston.

After a couple of years, the three now young men, bought a big house in a quiet Boston suburb, where Kyle finally got to have a big dog that he had wanted for a long time, and they lived there many happy moments, always loving one another for the rest of their lives.

 ***** Here's a little something I did to celebrate the polyshipping month. Polyshipping means a ship of more than two characters, but not a love triangle. Like a relationship between three people that works in the same way a regular couple does. I this case, I wanted to make something about my newly discovered OT3 that I will now call Kystotchman XD**

 ***** I hope that you liked it as much as I did and any reviews or critiques will be welcomed. This story would have been a lot crappier if it weren't for the help of the amazing CordialBloodBath that beta-read it and corrected a lot of grammar horrors I had made u_u So I really thank her**

 ***** The title refers to a saying in Spanish for when a person gets in the middle of a couple, often messing it up. The saying translates to English like "Two is company, three is a crowd" But as is shown here, sometimes a third person can make things even more enjoyable ^^**

 *****Disclaimer: I don't own the South Park characters or any of the brand names mentioned in this story.**


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